Progress in mosquito repellent textiles: factors, methods, and challenges

Abstract

Mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever pose a significant global health threat, with malaria alone causing hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. Climate change has exacerbated mosquito proliferation, necessitating innovative solutions to combat these diseases. Textiles engineered with mosquito-repellent characteristics have become a practical alternative to fight against vector-borne diseases. Not only synthetic chemicals, i.e., DEET, permethrin, etc, but also natural agents like essential oils or plant extract have been successfully applied onto fabrics through dyeing, printing, coating, grafting, and encapsulation. These techniques not only introduce the insect repellency but also embed multifunctional activity, e.g., UV protection, antimicrobial activity, etc Although this domain of functional textiles has made notable progress, the research communities are still trying to find a more feasible and suitable approach, and at the same time, overcome the existing limitations in achieving long-term effectiveness, user comfort, and environmentally sustainable options. This review discusses the advancements mosquito repellent textiles by applying both natural and synthetic repellents, covering application methods, assessment criteria, and material selection. It offers insights for developing effective and diverse mosquito-repellent textiles. This study contributes a unique, in-depth analysis of this field, highlighting the opportunities and limitations of current strategies while enhancing understanding and guiding future research endeavours.